Sisters
by Kimsibobs
Summary: The eleven-year old green girl and her crippled sister stick together.  After all, neither of them have any other friends.  Multi chapter fic.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's note: I started writing this about four years ago, and am just now posting it. It's rather long, and not quite finished, but I'll be able to post a chapter every few days. I'm going to do only minimal editing on the old stuff. Except for a few Wicked T-shirts, I own nothing._

Eleven-year-old Elphaba Thropp sat on a hard, wooden bench in the main office of St. Francis Academy of Oz, waiting. It was 8 o'clock in the morning on the first day of a new school year, but Elphaba was neither excited nor nervous. She was dreading it. She had been dreading this day all summer. A new school. New people to make fun of her. _Maybe it won't be so bad_, she thought. _Maybe they won't mind_. Her feeble hopes quickly sank when she heard what was going on around her. She knew this would happen. Wherever she went, it always did. Her dark eyes were fixed on the floor. She was trying not to think about it. She knew that the secretaries behind the counter were whispering to each other and staring. She knew that teachers and other children with their parents were coming in and out of the office doing the same thing. She caught some of the things they were saying.

"Who is that?"

"Do you think she's sick, Dad?"

"I wonder if she's always been…"

"Mommy, why is that girl…"

"So, that's the sister."

Elphaba kept her eyes on the floor and tried to ignore them. The reason she was attracting so much attention, even though she was sitting quite still, was that she was different from the other children. She was the oldest daughter of the governor of Munchkinland, for one thing, but what made her stand out was her appearance. Yes, she wore the same blue school jumper as the other girls and the matching headband, which was holding her long black hair neatly in place. She was not too tall or too short. She did not have big feet or small ears. She was green. She'd had green skin since the day she was born. She did not know why, and neither did her father. She always wondered if her mother knew, but couldn't ask her. She had died when Elphaba was two years old, after giving birth to Nessarose, Elphaba's little sister, who was now sitting beside her in the office.

Elphaba looked up at a door in the corner of the room when she suddenly heard her father's frustrated voice coming from it. It was the headmistress' office. Then she turned her attention to her sister, the reason for the heated conversation behind it.

Nessarose was not sitting on the bench beside Elphaba, but in a wheelchair, next to the bench. She was a perfectly normal color, but had been born crippled. The muscles in her legs had never been strong enough for her to walk, and no doctor could cure her. But Nessarose was very beautiful and her father's favorite daughter. Elphaba's wants and needs were often cast aside. Nessarose always came first. Even though Elphaba had always lived in the shadow of her beautiful sister, she loved her very much. In her small family, only she and her sister and father, Nessarose was perhaps the person who loved Elphaba most. Elphaba was often responsible for looking after her sister, as their father worked a lot, so they were very close.

"Nessa, are you alright?" the green girl asked her. Nessarose's pale face was looking paler than usual. She nodded, but looked unsure. Nessa had always been shy. They were both nervous about starting at a new school, a private school, but she also knew that something else was making it worse, especially for Nessa. Their father was speaking quite loudly, and could be heard through the headmistress' door, which was open just a crack. The sisters knew what was going on, and they were both getting more and more nervous. Nessarose was tightly clutching Elphaba's green hand.

"Why wasn't I told about this?" Elphaba heard her father's angry voice. "You said they would be in the same classroom! Elphaba needs to look after Nessa. My little girl spent all summer being tutored so she could skip third grade and come to this school to be with her sister, and now you are telling me they can't be together?"

"I'm sorry, Governor Thropp, we can't allow Elphaba to repeat fourth grade," replied the voice of the headmistress.

Elphaba bit her lower lip and looked down at the floor. She was two years older than Nessa and should have been in sixth grade. Elphaba happened to be incredibly smart. She probably would have done well even in high school, but none of her teachers had ever thought to let her skip a grade. It had simply never crossed their minds. She was stuck.

"What is wrong with the communication in this school?" Father could be heard again from behind the door.

Nessa squeezed Elphaba's hand tighter. The green girl looked over and smiled weakly at her sister, stroking her hand, trying to console her. She began to hum softly so only she and Nessa could hear. This was always soothing to both of them.

"Everything is going to be fine," she said. Of course, she was not at all sure about this, and now was more concerned as she turned her attention back to the conversation behind the door.

She was so focused on listening that she was startled when someone sat down next to her. She turned and saw that it was a teacher, a Goat. Elphaba expected her to say something mean, or tell her she was sitting in a place that was off limits, but instead the teacher smiled. No stranger had ever smiled at her.

"Hello, there! Is this your first day at St. Francis?" asked the Goat, her eyes sparkling. Elphaba was shocked to hear these words spoken to her kindly. She only nodded.

"You look like a fifth grader. Is that right?" The teacher looked at her with mild curiosity and smiled again. "What's your name?"

Elphaba was bewildered, this person was actually being nice to her, talking _to_ her instead of talking _about_ her. This never happened. Didn't this person notice that she was green? She wasn't sure how to react. She finally decided to speak.

"My name is Elphaba and I should be in sixth grade, but I am in fifth grade, because when I was five and old enough to go to kindergarten, my father didn't think I was ready to be with other children, so I started school a year late," Elphaba blurted out very quickly. She was not used to talking to grown-ups. Nessa stared at her, looking a little angry now on top of her nervousness, as if to say "you shouldn't have told her that," but she stayed silent.

"Well, then, welcome to our school!" said the teacher. I think you'll really like it here." She smiled again and turned to talk to Nessa. "Are you Elphaba's sister? That is a lovely pink pillow you have on your chair."

For the first time that morning, Nessa smiled. This person seemed very nice, and though Elphaba knew she shouldn't be talking to strangers, she decided that since it was a teacher, it wasn't a big deal. She could, almost magically, always tell when Nessa was not in the mood to talk, which was often when they were in public, so she spoke for her.

"This is my sister, Nessarose," she said.

"Ah, 'Nessarose,' I thought you two might be Governor Thropp's girls," she said, eying Nessa's chair. Nessarose, you are going to be in my class! I knew that you had a sister coming, too, but nobody told me anything about her. I am is Ms. Dillamond. I guess I will see you in class very soon, Nessarose." She began to walk toward the door.

Elphaba was relieved that her sister would be with a kind, understanding teacher. That had been one of her biggest worries about the new school (she wasn't ready to think about her other fears yet). She still wasn't sure if the teacher had really _seen_ her, but Miss Dillamond turned back before she reached the door and leaned down to whisper in Elphaba's ear: "hang in there, green one."


	2. Chapter 2

"Elphaba, listen to me," Father said sternly to his oldest daughter after his argument with the headmistress. He had not been able to convince her to allow the girls to be in the same class. He squatted down to speak to Elphaba. "I was able to get you placed in the classroom right across the hall from Nessa's. I need you to go over and check on her every possible chance you get, do you understand me? Every possible chance."

"Yes, Father." Elphaba replied.

Father then leaned closer to his green daughter and lowered his voice so that only she could hear, "Stay in control," he said, speaking even more sternly than before. Elphaba had been waiting for this. "I don't want you having an _episode_ on your first day. For Nessa's sake, please, _stay in control_."

_Stay in control? _Elphaba thought._ In a new place, a bad situation, and after finding out I'll be separated from Nessa? _She looked her father in the eye but didn't answer. She could only try. A nearby flower twitched in its vase.

Nessa let out a small, nervous squeak. She had gone almost completely white. Father turned to her.

"Nessa, your sister is going to be right across the hall," he said gently. "Can you do this for me today? I'll be here to pick you up at exactly 3 o'clock, don't worry."

"Promise?" Nessa whimpered, speaking for the first time since they had entered the school building.

"I promise. A parade of Elephants couldn't keep me away from you, my rose!" He said, kissing her forehead. "This is going to be fun, you'll see." With one last look at his daughters, the governor left the office, leaving Elphaba to take her sister to her classroom.

By this time, the halls were empty; all the children had gotten to their classrooms while they had been waiting. It was eerily quiet. As Elphaba wheeled Nessa in her chair down the hall, the only sounds she heard were the footsteps of her clunky shoes and the squeak of Nessa's rolling wheels. Portraits of former heads of the school adorned the brown walls. Nessa sighed nervously, and Elphaba decided to lighten the mood as she wheeled her sister to her classroom.

"Dewey was the grass on an early morn in May…" she sang softly. Nessa always delighted in Elphaba's beautiful voice.

"Dewey was the Admiral at Manila Bay…" She continued their favorite song. Nessa giggled softly.

"Dewey were her eyes as she bade her love adieu…"

Nessa joined in for the louder last line, "Do we love each other? I should say we do. Do we love each other? I should say we do!" They didn't sing it as loudly as usual, both because they were nervous and because they didn't want to disturb classes and call attention to themselves.

Nessa clapped. "Thank you, Elphaba," she said. "Is this the room?"

They had arrived at the door to Nessa's classroom. "Are you ready?" Elphaba asked her sister.

"No," replied Nessa, sounding a little less frightened after their song, but still very nervous. "But you have to take me in anyway, don't you?"

"You'll be fine, we already met your teacher, we know she's great," Elphaba said, reaching for the door handle. The door opened before her hand touched it and Miss Dillamond came out.

"I thought I heard you girls out here," she said. "The class is decorating nametags for their desks right now," she said to Nessa. She opened the door and the sisters peered in. Perhaps a dozen children were sitting at desks grouped in threes and fours with an assortment of crayons, colored pencils and markers. Colorful posters covered the walls, posters of letters and numbers, musical notes and drama masks, a list of Miss Dillamond's favorite books, pictures of science experiments, and a large poster of the Emerald City. A shelf of books sat under a row of windows near a large rug for reading. Elphaba noticed an empty desk in a group of four without a chair-Nessa's desk.

"Who is your teacher going to be, Elphaba?" Miss Dillamond asked.

"Ms. Gunston," Elphaba told her. The look on the teacher's face made the girl feel uneasy, but the Goat turned her grimace into a forced smile.

"Well, you make sure to come here after school and tell me about your day," she said. She turned to the girl in the wheelchair.

"Would you like to come make a nametag, Nessarose?" Miss Dillamond asked. Nessa looked into the room and then to Elphaba, who was kneeling beside her chair.

"I don't want to go in," she said to her sister, shaking her head. "I can't do it, I want to go with you."

Miss Dillamond waited patiently as Elphaba took her sister's hand. "Nessa, you'll be fine, Miss Dillamond will take you inside."

"No, I can't. Tell her that Father said I could go with you!" she pleaded, tightening her grip on her sister's hand.

"Nessa, I can't do that," Elphaba said steadily, though her heart was breaking as she looked into Nessa's face. She wanted badly to stay, but she knew she had the responsibility to get Nessa to where she needed to be. "I'll be right across the hall," she managed to say, her voice still steady. Miss Dillamond took the handles of Nessa's wheelchair.

"Elphaba, please don't leave me!" Nessarose cried, now in tears. Elphaba forced herself to let go of Nessa's hand and stand up, on the verge of tears herself but careful not to show it. "Elphaba, no!" Nessa cried, burying her face in her hands.

"You can, do it, Nessa. You can. Go have fun." A tear ran down Elphaba's face as she watched Nessa disappear into the classroom. The door was shut behind her. Elphaba stood staring at the wood for a few moments. Would Nessa be okay? She wiped her face on her sleeve and took a deep breath to collect herself. She tore her eyes away from the door and turned to face the one on the opposite wall, the door to Ms. Gunston's room.


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's note: It's high time I thanked GraniaMhaol for reading this a few years ago, when "our paths did cross, at school." Read her stuff. Seriously, it's gorgeous and brilliant._

Elphaba finally entered her own classroom; the place could not have been more different from the one across the hall. She felt like she had just walked into a military barrack. There was nothing on the dirty walls except for a list of classroom rules, a shelf full of old books that looked untouched, and a few cracks in the plaster. The desks stood in straight rows, not grouped like in Nessa's classroom. All of the children were sitting up very straight, listening carefully to Ms. Gunston in the front of the room.

Every head turned as Elphaba entered the room. Even the teacher stared for a few moments before coming to. She studied the newcomer for a few moments with a look of stern surprise before saying, "You're late," and nodding to the only empty desk in the room, where Elphaba was to sit. It was in the very back row.

Nobody spoke, but every eye followed the green girl as she made her way across the room. _New school, new beginning, I can do this_, Elphaba thought, straightening up and trying to look confident. Walking across the small classroom felt like walking a mile with a huge audience watching. When she finally sat down and put her backpack on the floor by her chair, the teacher continued as if nothing had happened, but the students kept turning to glance at her and whispering to each other. Elphaba tried not to notice (she was, after all, used to this) and turned her attention to the lesson in the front of the room.

Math. Long division. She already knew this. Elphaba bent down and got paper and a pencil from her backpack to doodle with. She was halfway through a drawing of a scarecrow in a cornfield when she realized that her teacher was standing right in front of her, staring angrily down.

"Elphaba."

"Yes, Ma'am?"

"Do you have the answer?" The teacher stared at her with hawk-like eyes.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, I didn't hear the question," Elphaba replied, suddenly frightened.

"Were you paying attention?"

"Well, I already know how to…I mean…" she tried to answer. The green girl was not easily upset, but her eyes began to water. "I don't need to learn long divi…."

Ms. Gunston grabbed the drawing off the desk and crumpled it in her hand, not taking her eyes off Elphaba.

"Corner." She barked without shifting her gaze, pointing to a black chair in a dark, empty corner of the room.

Elphaba began to tremble. _Stay in control_, she reminded herself, but this was too much. After all she had been through that summer and during the past hour, she could not be calm any longer. Images raced through Elphaba's mind like a filmstrip. Her father was telling her that she had to repeat fourth grade when she knew she didn't need to, Nessa was crying in frustration trying to study all of third grade in one summer, a seamstress was laughing looking at Elphaba wearing her new school uniform over green skin, the secretaries were whispering to each other, children were pointing, Father was telling her to control something she knew she couldn't, Nessa was begging her not to leave her alone in a new place, Ms. Gunston was glaring at Elphaba as she stood in the doorway, she was being punished on the first day of school for no good reason.

Elphaba cried out as the room turned to chaos. The noise was unbelievable, but Elphaba did not hear, her brain was filled with dreadful images so strong that she was unaware of anything outside her head. The teacher was thrown back into the desk behind her; all of the students began to move uncontrollably, jerking and jumping into the air. Many of them screamed as their arms and legs flailed, some hitting desks or other children. Chalk flew from the tray under the blackboard across the room, shattering on the opposite wall; paper ripped itself into bits without being touched. The windows flew open and books fell off the shelves. Ms. Gunston screamed as Elphaba's crumpled drawing forced its way out of her hand and zoomed across the room where it smoothed itself out and sat unmoving on Elphaba's desk.

Then suddenly everything became still again. The students stopped moving; most of them collapsed onto the floor, not speaking and looking extremely frightened. Paper lay quietly on the desks, chalk ceased to move. The room was silent as Ms. Gunston got slowly to her feet.

It was a few moments before Elphaba realized that she was huddled on the floor in a corner of the classroom, breathing heavily and trembling from head to toe. Ms. Gunston, now looking frightened, slowly approached Elphaba. When the teacher bent down to speak to her, the green girl spoke first, quietly uttering just three words:

"Don't tell Nessa."


	4. Chapter 4

Ten minutes later, a still shaken Elphaba was sitting in the headmistress's office, trying to think of how she could possibly explain herself. The headmistress, an older woman who looked both severe and kindly, peered over her glasses at the green girl with interest. When she finally spoke, her voice was steady.

"Ms. Gunston said nobody was hurt badly."

Elphaba said nothing.

"Does this happen often?" she asked.

Elphaba shook her head, still silent.

"Magic can be a scary thing sometimes," she continued. "I don't want it in my school, endangering my students."

Elphaba gripped her seat hard. She'd thought she might be expelled or at least suspended. Nessa would be hurt and confused, Father mortified. She took a deep breath as the headmistress continued.

"However, since you say this is a rare occurrence, here's what's going to happen. You are going to clean Ms. Gunston's chalkboard after school today, and in the future you must try to control this-this thing that you do."

Elphaba exhaled in disbelief. When she left the office a few minutes later, it hit her that the only reason she'd gotten off so easy was because this exclusive school didn't want the bad press that would come with kicking out the governor's daughter.

Elphaba did not want to talk to anyone during recess that afternoon. The children were frightened of her and Ms. Gunston had been shocked to see Elphaba walk back into her classroom later that morning. She was too embarrassed to face anybody. She chose to sit on the bench by the playground and watch the other children play. She was sure that news was spreading fast about her episode, and was glad that her sister's class had recess at a different time of day so Nessa wouldn't hear anything right away.

Elphaba was watching one of her classmates talking to a friend when an unusually short munchkin boy approached the bench, followed by an angry looking teacher, a Leopard. He sat down next to Elphaba.

"You need to stop chasing the girls, Boq," the teacher said. "You will sit right here until the bell rings." The boy named Boq chuckled quietly as the Leopard walked away, then turned to look at Elphaba.

"You're green," he said matter-of-factly, as if he were simply commenting on a piece of jewelry.

"Um, well…."

"What did you do to get sent to the bench?" He seemed to have dismissed his observation immediately.

"Nothing," Elphaba replied. "I just wanted to be alone."

"Don't you want to play with your friends?" Boq asked, swinging his legs contentedly.

"I don't have any friends," Elphaba confessed.

"Because you're green?"

"Um, I guess. And I'm new here, and," she gulped, "I, um, made a mistake in class this morning."

"It happens," Boq said in the same matter-of-fact tone. "I don't have a lot of friends either because I'm so short. Almost all Munchkin families married into height, just about all the kids at school are tall Munchkins, like you, but my family is short. I have fun without friends anyway. We could be friends if you want." He pulled a bag of apple slices from his pocket. "Want some of my snack?"

Elphaba eyed the boy skeptically, but accepted an apple slice.

"Maybe we could start by just being acquaintances," she replied.

"I can live with that," Boq answered.

The rest of the day wasn't so tough for Elphaba. Now that she had someone to talk to other than her sister, she didn't feel so alone. She only half listened to the lessons that afternoon, she was thinking about what she and Boq might do the next day at recess.

Elphaba was actually smiling when she went to Nessa's classroom after she cleaned the chalkboard in Miss Gunston's classroom. Miss Dillamond's classroom was just as cheerful as it had been when she dropped Nessa off that morning. Elphaba had only managed to go across the hall to check on Nessa once during the day, at lunch. She hadn't dared to ask if she could leave her own classroom. Miss Dillamond had winked at her when she came through the doorway as if to say "your sister's doing fine." Indeed, Nessa had been sitting happily looking at a book with some other children, and Elphaba thought it best not to disturb or upset her by coming in and being seen by her sister's new friends.

But Nessa grinned broadly when her sister came in at the end of the day, singing quietly. The rest of the students had left to catch their busses; only Nessa and Miss Dillamond were still in the room.

"Elphaba, look what I made!" She exclaimed at once, holding out a clay figure of a Quoxwood tree. "We're studying plants, Miss Dillamond let me pick my project first and we made models. Doesn't this look just like the tree in our front yard?" Elphaba had never seen her sister so talkative or cheerful outside of their house. "Do you like it?" Nessa asked eagerly.

The green girl was so happy to see Nessa so excited that her eyes began to water. She glanced at the smiling teacher sitting nearby not knowing what to say. This was miraculous behavior for Nessarose; clearly the Goat was as good a teacher as she was a person. Elphaba bent down next to the wheelchair and took her sister's hand.

"It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, Nessa," she replied, but she wasn't talking about the tree.


End file.
